Nottawa-Sherman History

History of the Nottawa-Sherman Volunteer Fire Department
by Dennis Embrey
Retired Firefighter, N.S.F.D.
(with additional contributions from other N.S.F.D. firefighters)

Note: Links to photocopies of news articles are imbedded throughout this document. Click on the link to view the article.

A joint meeting was held on October 20, 1948 between Nottawa and Sherman Township boards. At that meeting, acting chairman Alva Cummins heard a motion that the supervisor, clerk and Treasurer of each township act as a six man board. One man from the Weidman Businessmen's Association was chosen to serve in an advisory capacity with this newly formed fire board. The fire board was given the authority to deal with Farmers Mutual Fire Insurance Co. in the procurement of a new fire truck pumper and to pay any and all expenses to carry out the will of the people in obtaining fire protection and fire fighting equipment. The motion carried. 10-20-48

On February 22, 1949 the fire truck arrived and was temporarily housed in McClain's Chevrolet Garage which was on the corner of Main and Woodruff in Weidman. Picture: 1st Engine News Article: 1st_Engine_1st_Traning

The first fire hall ( News Article & Picture ) was built on the property described as W 1/2 of lots (5) and (6) of block (10) of the Village of Weidman. Nottawa-Sherman Townships obtained the property for the sum of (1) dollar from Agatha Neyer Schafer, (et.al.) on the 29th day of June, 1949. This parcel is located on the corner of Second and Main in Weidman. August of 1949 through October of 1949, two members of this new fire department (Ed Fox, chief) and Jerry Straus (a local contractor) obtained building materials from Holmes Milling Co. Holmes Milling Co. at that time owned the lumber yard that later became Allen Lumber Co. Mr. Bill Cahill operated the yard back then. The total cost of the building material was only $1,340.90 to build the first (2) two bay fire hall. This new structure which was made of cement blocks and had a flat roof was completed in October of 1949. It housed the new 1949 Chevrolet pumper and a 1,000 gallon tanker. The square tank for the water tanker was built by Howard Metcalf and Freeman Leiter.

The first coverage area for fire protection was Nottawa and Sherman Townships only. The coverage expanded to include portions of Broomfield, Coldwater and Gilmore Townships also. With the growth of the coverage area the fire department saw growth also. A new water tanker (1964 Chevrolet) was added in the mid-sixties and the first addition to the fire hall was done in the early seventies. (News Article & Picture ) The new addition doubled the size of the original hall to a four bay structure. A new pumper was added in 1971 (News Article & Picture )which gave the department two pumpers, two water tankers and one Jeep grass fire rig. The fire hall was improved again in the early eighties when we added a new "A" roof, a conference room and an overhead water supply tank.

In 1992 a new 60' X 100' fire station was built on Weidman Road between Woodruff and School Road to handle the growth of the Department. The original building had office space, a large conference room, kitchen and bathroom facilities, a work shop and a six bay garage area. In the fall of 2000, the township boards approved an expansion of the fire station to include three more vehicle bays, a large storage bay, another bathroom, an EMS "ready room" and a larger meeting room. It presently houses two engines, two tenders (formerly known as water tankers) with a total water capacity of 7,000 gallons, a 4x4 3/4 ton pickup grass rig, a 4x4 ATV grass rig equipped with a patient litter rack, a 6x6 Army "deuce" brush rig w/1,000 gallon water tank, a heavy rescue/equipment truck with a compressed air cascade system for filling air bottles, a 3/4 ton light rescue SUV and an 18' long airboat with a 350 cu.in. engine (for ice/water/snow rescue operations).

Training

Initially, training consisted of whatever each fire department in Michigan deemed necessary. (News Article: Training)As new "recruits" were brought into the fire fighting crew, they were taught how to operate equipment and fight fire by the "veterans". Many of the veterans learned the only way they could, by trial and error. This was true of the Nottawa-Sherman Fire Department when it was first organized in 1948. (News Article: 1st Truck Training) In 1966, the Michigan Fire Fighter Training Council was formed and organized fire fighter training was initiated. Currently, Michigan Public Act 291 of 1966, Section 29.369.amended (2018) requires volunteer fire fighters to pass the basic fire fighter course known as Fire Figher I within 24 months of joining a Michigan fire department. Nottawa-Sherman Fire Department requirements are more demanding. Candidates must become certified through both Fire Fighter I and Fire Fighter II and the Medical First Responder courses. That's over 350 hours of class time! In order to comply with continuing education requirements, Nottawa-Sherman personnel attend at least one training for fire fighting and at least one for medical recertification every month.

Emergency Fire Alarms & Communicatons

The first alarm that warned everyone in Weidman of an emergency was the ringing of the Methodist Church bell, often in the wee hours of the morning. Then came the telephone activated siren that was mounted on McClain's auto sales garage roof. (News Article) This alarm system had volunteers speeding to the fire hall even for wrong numbers and false alarms. This system was changed in the sixties to have the calls come from the Isabella County Sheriff's Department directly to the homes of ten fire fighters with five more phones being added later. The phone alert system gave way to radio signal paging from Isabella County Sheriff's Department in the early eighties. When Isabella County acquired "enhanced 911" capability, the responsibility for dispatching of all fire department, ambulance and police personnel shifted to the newly formed Isabella County Central Dispatch. Along with the 911 system, the county installed a radio signal repeater system to strengthen radio coverage throughout the area.

That VHF "analog" system worked well until the FCC mandated a change in radio transmissons. This "narrow band" mandate from the FCC was too much for the communications company hired by Isabella County. The company, instead of upgrading the existing analog VHF system with a couple more repeater/tower sites to improve signal strength, convinced the Central Dispatch/911 Director and Isabella county commissioners to spend over a million dollars installing a "digital" VHF system for use by county fire departments. This was the very system that the communications company tried to push on the law enforcement agencies in the county. They system was a failure for law enforcement and a failure for our fire department. It was not as effective as the system it had replaced and put Nottawa-Sherman firefighters in danger due to the inability to contact Central Dispatch from much of the Nottawa-Sherman coverage area. After many months of trying to get the county to fix the problems, Chief Dave Livermore took the matter into his own hands and contracted with the Michigan Public Safety Communications System (MPSCS) 800 MHz communications network. This meant buying very expensive 800 MHz radio equipment, including new pagers for every firefighter. The move to 800 MHz didn't solve the coverage problem by itself. Nottawa-Sherman personnel now carry both VHF and UHF (800 MHz) portable radios when on emergency scenes in an effort to ensure communications with Central Dispatch, other fire departments, ambulance personnel and police officers. When both types of radio fail, our only remaining option is our cell phones.

Rescue

Rescue became an integral part of the Department as early as the late seventies when the only equipment we had was an pressurized oxygen powered respirator. The first hydraulic extrication equipment known as the "JAWS OF LIFE" used to get people out of crushed vehicles was donated to the Department in the early eighties. This addition was accompanied by additional extrication and First Aid training, also added in the early eighties. A few years later, many members of the Department became trained as Medical First Responders, Emergency Medical Technicians (Basic & Paramedic). and our emergency medical role has increased annually since that time with more training and more medical runs. Now, all members are required to complete approximately 350 class hours of training, weeknights and Saturdays, over a period of 8-10 months to become certified firefighters and Medical First Responders. We now respond, annually, to more than 10 times the events we did in the 1980s.

Fire Investigation

In the middle to late eighties, Isabella County offered fire investigation training for a few individuals from each department in the county. Since that time, our department has furnished trained investigaters to help staff the Isabellas County Cause & Origin investigation team which conducts fire investigation activities throughout the county.

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